Tourism in the city of Santo Domingo is giving way to a notorious resurgence with the construction and opening of new hotels, which means a greater offer of lodging, new leisure proposals for visitors, with the announcement of the construction of a tourist boulevard and the long-awaited convention center to attract MICE tourism.
In that sense, the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, indicated that the hotel offer in SD is diversifying and growing, and to complement the occupation of the new rooms it is necessary to make way for the convention center.
“In most of the cities where a convention center is implemented and built, hotel occupancy increases by 7 to 8%, therefore, what we are looking for is that the capital, Santo Domingo, continues to grow in its tourist offer”, he emphasized.
He recalled that President Luis Abinader declared the land of the former Hispaniola hotel to be of public utility, for which there is a dispute between the private sector and “the idea that the legal consultant of the Executive Branch has is to deposit the money in a trust account and whoever wins the dispute will execute the work”.
Collado said that the capital cannot be sacrificed with such an emblematic space as the Hispaniola hotel where the convention center will be built.
He explained that the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Tourism (Mitur) and the Banco del Reservas are working together for the materialization of the work. In addition, in alliance with Ifema.
“We have a partnership with Ifema, the company that runs Fitur, which has experience in the management of convention centers and they have advised us on everything, even where the vehicles unload the food. We are not improvising”, he emphasized.
Regarding the new hotels, the minister valued the recently inaugurated Marriott Piantini and Aloft Piantini, which provide 400 new rooms. He also mentioned the opening of the Courtyard by Marriott Santo Domingo Piantini behind the Intercontinental hotel, since the area where the new lodging centers are located is the axis of growth, not only for urban tourism, but also for the economy.
“There is another hotel on Gustavo Mejia Ricard Street and really that environment, Churchill-Lincon, is becoming or is already the financial center of the DR and the capital. That is where we are going to make a boulevard in coordination with the mayor’s office and different institutions to make the city friendlier and more pedestrian-friendly so that tourists visiting those hotels can go out and enjoy the city,” he pointed out.
It is recalled that the tourist boulevard, a work that is estimated to begin next month with an investment of RD$500 million, seeks to be the spearhead of urban and tourist development for Santo Domingo, and at the same time offer a pedestrian alternative and recreational space, as it will significantly transform the city.
Source:Arecoa.com
